Federal Government, yesterday, debunked reports of a bomb explosion, at South African High Commission, in Abuja, which circulated on social media.

Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, in a statement, in Abuja, described the report as fake news orchestrated by the desperate opposition to cause panic and chaos among the populace.

He alleged that the video of the purported bomb explosion, which made the rounds was that of the bomb explosion that rocked Emab Plaza, near Banex, in Abuja, on June 25, 2014.

Muhammed said: ‘’A pattern is emerging of the antics of the desperate opposition to latch on to the use of fake news and disinformation as a strategy to trigger chaos in the country. On Friday (6 Sept 2019), they doctored and circulated the video of my appearance on Channels Television on January 2015 (when I was the spokesman of the APC) to make it look like I was begging Nigerians to forgive President Buhari for not having a school certificate. Worse still, they posted the video afresh, giving the impression that it happened last Thursday and that I acted in my capacity as Minister of Information and Culture.

‘’Unfortunately for them, this doctored video came out on the same day a report emerged that PDP had sent lawyers and party agents to the University of Cambridge to confirm the authenticity of the President’s West African school certificate, only to be stunned to discover that not only did the President write the examination. One would have expected a party that trumpets its belief in the rule of law, a party that challenged the result of the last presidential election in court, to wait patiently for the impending judgment on the issue instead of engaging in underhand tactics and resorting to self-help,’’ he said.

Mohammed appealed to Nigerians to be very discerning at this time and to check the veracity of any information they receive.

‘’This is just the beginning. Nigerians should expect an explosion of fake news and disinformation in the days and weeks ahead. This is because the desperation of this opposition is alarming. But their strategy will fail, just like every other dubious strategy that they have been employing in their desperate bid to grab power,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has urged members of the public to disregard the video.

FCT Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mr Anjuguri Manzah, who disclosed this, yesterday, in Abuja, stated that there was no record of such an incident in any part of the Federal Capital Territory.

“The Command, therefore, wishes to reassure the public that it has put in place adequate security measures to protect lives and property across FCT, including embassies.

The Guardian